Indiscriminate Israeli Bombing of Rafah, from Refugees in UNRWA Schools to Ambulances

In the bloody genocidal Israeli rampage against Gaza’s people – the massacre in the city and refugee camp of Rafah on the southern end of the Gaza strip was the worst, and it still continues. Just as I write this line on Monday morning (August 4, 2014), Israel declared a humanitarian ceasefire – but it will not include Rafah. So the people of Rafah will not be allowed even to dig their dead from under the ruins or treat the wounded or get some water to drink.

The Rafah massacre is also the most extreme proof of the “world community”, led by the US and the UN, active encouragement and support for the Israel’s war crimes. As you may remember, on Friday morning, August 1, a 72 hour ceasefire in Gaza had to start. About two hours after it started, Israel announced that a unit of its army was attacked by “a suicide bomber”, killing two soldiers, and that one soldier was held by the Palestinian militants.

Just as the news came, Barack Obama went on the air to adopt the Israeli version of events, denounce Hamas acts in strong words that he never used for the killing of more than a thousand Palestinian civilians, including 400 children. He went on to wonder whether Hamas can ever be trusted to make a ceasefire. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, trying to outdo his bosses in Washington, said the Hamas attack was “likely to have very serious consequences for the people of Gaza” – actually encouraging the Israelis to go farther in the ongoing massacre.

Lies exposed

In an article in the Israeli Haaretz today, published in different versions in English and Hebrew, Gili Cohen brings some details from the IDF (The Israeli Army) internal inquiry about what happened on Friday morning.

The most important lines may be the small print, and don’t be astonished if they will disappear sometime soon. They say: “… a Givati Brigade patrol came under heavy fire while moving toward a building where a tunnel shaft was located.” So, according to the IDF itself, it was the Israeli patrol itself that advanced toward the area held by the Palestinian militants, clearly breaching the ceasefire agreement!

The report goes on to say that “Contrary to earlier reports, however, the inquiry concluded that the terrorist who came nearest the three soldiers wasn’t wearing a suicide belt, but simply continued firing his rifle until he was killed.”

It is typical that at the heights of the battle people exaggerate and public relations officers paint a picture that suits their purpose… But what will Obama and Ban Ki-moon say now to the relatives of the hundreds of people that died in the massacre that they have so enthusiastically encouraged?

The Hannibal Procedure

The Rafah events are also outstanding in demonstrating how the Israeli genocidal campaign has nothing to do with preserving the lives of Jews, not even of its own soldiers. It is rather a desperate case of racist “white supremacy” going psychotic.

The main argument underlying the severity of the attack on the Givati patrol in Rafah was the Israeli “fear” that one of its soldiers was captured by the resistance.

Haaretz goes on to report:

“The IDF then sent additional forces to the area, including aircraft… This included a tank battalion and an infantry battalion… These forces also laid down heavy fire “from all directions,” including tank shells, artillery bombardments and air strikes, in an effort to isolate the area where Goldin was thought to be, block all access routes to and from it and thereby ensure that nobody could either enter or leave without the soldiers noticing, the IDF source said. This was in line with the Hannibal procedure, which one senior officer said is meant to ensure that “every effort to locate the kidnapped [soldier] and the kidnappers” is made.”

Actually the main purpose of the onslaught on Rafah was to make sure that lieutenant Goldin will not stay alive at the hand of the Palestinians. It is reminiscent of the “better dead than red” slogans of the cold war. “We burned the village in order to save its people from communism…”

At the end of the report, Haaretz concludes:

“According to Palestinian reports, more than 130 Palestinians were killed in this onslaught, with some of the bodies located only in the days after it happened. Palestinians also accused the IDF of attacking vehicles en route to the Rafah hospital, including several ambulances.

“Given the massive firepower employed, it could be assumed that the casualties would probably include innocent civilians.”

(Notice Haaretz caution and under-statement in reporting Israel’s war crimes!)

By today’s announcement that the ceasefire will not include Rafah we may assume that the Israeli army is not fully sure that Goldin is already dead, but it is determined not to be proved wrong at any price…

The Startup Nation

Israel is very proud of its achievement in intercepting the relatively primitive missiles of the resistance.

They will now invest billions of dollars (from the US tax payers’ money) to build underground detectors and defenses…

But if their main concern is that a soldier may go stray and be held alive by the resistance, they could also solve it by cheap technology without causing so much collateral damage. They may inject each soldier with a death pill that will be activated as soon as he loses contact with his base…

Like this:

(This call for a demonstration in Haifa was published on Facebook on behalf of several Palestinian activists from the Patriotic Youth… The demonstration had to take place on Sunday, August 25, 2013. More than 120 activists expressed their desire to participate. The invitation was later deleted for reasons that were not yet specified…)

From politics to ethics

The crimes committed against our peoples in Syria and Egypt, and the justifications of these crimes by different official bodies, were they Arab or foreign, are an additional confirmation that we are beyond the stage of political debate. There is no place for political positions or activity unless it is within the framework of the principled defense of morality. This morality is represented by the basic Human Rights of the Arab citizen wherever he is, the right of the Arab person to live in dignity and to exercise his fundamental rights to demonstrate, hold sit-in or resist any official decision through peaceful means, which are legitimate morally and according to international conventions.

The military’s intervention in politics

The image reflected from our Arab region shows that the military is the master of the scene in Syria and Egypt. The army comes to politics under the pretext of security and then kills the citizen in the name of ideology. It only attempts to silence and kill innocent people so that all justifications for murder will be present, whatever the size of the crime and whatever the means. This way the clearing of a peaceful sit-in or spraying children with chemical weapons become a maneuver aimed first and foremost to eliminate the sacred status of the human being, whose dignity and rights constitute the first origin of real national security and real democratic transformation.

The sanctity of the holy sites

We also call upon all those who are interested in the unity of our societies for a better future, to stand firmly against any attempt at burning or desecration of any of the holy sites. Do not enter the language of fitna (sectarian division) to peoples’ minds, whether fuelling it with the pretext of refusing it, or strengthening it in order to gain advantage.

Finally, because the progress of our societies requires a moral compass, which is the first and last origin for any position about any political event, and because silence is the neutrality that complements the crime, we invite you to participate in the demonstration and to light candles…